Okey, the title is a bit ominous, and I suspect most of you are thinking. . . "What's that? Had sex?" Well no, close. . . but.
What I want to talk to you about is what it is I've been upto in the gym and what my fitness goals etc.

Just to address topic of the thread. I set a target goal of 15% (or less) body fat composition by summer. This was set in around late Autumn, early winter (Octoberish) . . . I was 18% at the time I set it. and I'm still not quite sure how I've managed it so quickly. Please view photographic evidence below

And this is really the only worth while photo I have of progress. On the left is about a month into training, and on the right about about mid december.

Probably a little leaner than that again now. I think I was 156 in that photo on the right and around 176 in the photo on the left. But what I wanted this thread to be about is what I had success in and what I didn't and perhaps if you're going to go on the same venture this year some things to consider. Now I know I already wrote quite abit in xgsjx's thread which is also in this forum so I'm not sure how much I can write without repeating any of that.

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So now I'm going to go on to what I believe are key factors into a "successful" training program, and this might surprise you but I am not an advocate of the whole "No Pain, No Gain". I think it can be applied to endurance training a little, where you might need to run through a stitch, or if you compete competitively and are training to win a world title in something. But genuinely speaking, pain is a warning. Pain is your body's way of saying "Hold up a minute, something's wrong" If you ignore that warning then quite clearly, you could potentially make whatever's agitated much much worse.

Okey so I hear you say, if you're anti "No pain no gain, then what do you support?"
Well I've always supported the method of training smarter not harder, training with efficiency. Again if you do Crossfit where there's timed WODs (Work Out of the Day) then you're kinda forced to perform exercises as fast as possible.
Sometimes form is substituted for speed, and when this happens the potential for injuries occur.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic now. I will explain more on this "Train smarter not harder" later, there's more important things to discuss. First, what I believe are some key factors to any training program.

1. Realistic Goals and expectations

2. Consistency.

3. You can't out train a bad diet.

4. Patience.

Let's discuss then in a little more detail the 4 main points.

1. Realistic Goals and expectations.

Okey, so I think yes, being honest with yourself is key here. Setting realistic, achievable goals on a reasonable timeline is very important.
To use an extreme example here. Obviously after around 8 months of lifting natural I'm not going to be as big as Ronnie Coleman. So I need to debunk any notions of that ever happening.
But more so what I'm trying to say is, don't set yourself up for failure. By setting realistic goals that you can achieve along the way you'll see progress, and progress feeds motivation, and motivation leads to success.

2. Consistency.

Now I'm not afraid to say it because tbh I can't put this any better than what I've already watched somewhere else
But a video on Youtube (can't remember the reference) referred to treating working out as a meeting with yourself. You wouldn't miss a meeting with the boss, so don't miss a meeting with yourself.
And obviously what they're trying to say is, find a way to prioritise your time in the gym (or whatever physical activity you do).

3. You can't out train a bad diet.

Nutrition really should be first on the list, but unfortunately I don't nearly know enough about it to speak in depth about it. What I do know is, that it's probably more important than actually attending a workout, because it's what you do outside the gym that makes the biggest difference.
Clear example, you go to the gym Saturday morning, you feel good, you've build up a sweat, then Saturday night comes along, and before you know it you've had umpteen units of alcohol, one large Donner Kabab, and then the hangover food the next day because you're too ill to move and your body hasn't been able to metabolise the 4-6 thousand calories you've consumed in the last 24 hours because your immune system has prioritised removing the alcohol from your system. Almost rendering the 1000 calories in the gym you've burnt off useless.

Perhaps that introduction to this section sounds a little harsh, so I'll even it up with some simple useful advice.

Okey, so how many calories a day do I need? Well everyone knows about the calorie in vs calorie out method being the best to loose weight.
But there's more than one way to loose weight. And you don't want to be in so much of a deficit that you're loosing bone mass, muscle mass and all sorts of stuff like that.

Around 250-500 below your maintenance level is a good starting point. (There are calculators online to estimate what yours will be. This is known as our TDEE
So what do we know about the food we need to eat? Well they're split into Macronutrients and Micronutrients. Macro as we all know means big, so the 3 main Macros are Protein, carbs and Fats.

Luckily for us, 1 gram of protein and 1 gram of carbs = 4 calories (Each). That makes things quite simple when dividing our meals up using Macros. And one gram of fat = 9 calories.

Using these simple facts we can then roughly estimate how much we need of each to sustain a healthy lifestyle. Now the general rule of thumb is to match your per gram of Protein with your bodyweight (if you're over weight you can use your lean body weight measurement) So for example I am 150(ish) pounds, there for to meet my protein requirements for the day (TDEE) I need to consume roughly 150 grams of protein (I usually intake 110 from food, 40 from supplements). I also try to aim for around 120 grams of carbs a day (although I'd increase this slightly if I was on a bulk). Everybody's body is different though.
So now we know this how do we add up what our food?

Well Simple really. Just remember the 4-4-9- rule.
Let's say a meal has

24 grams of protein - X by 4 = 96 Kal

49 grams of carbs - X 4 = 196 Kal

7 grams of fat X 9 = 63 Kal

Adding the 3 results up gives a total calorie intake of 355 calories.

So now we've discussed Macronutrients, Let's talk about Micronutrients.
To be honest I'll make this one quick because it doesn't need so much of an in depth overview.
Basically these are found in vegetables and fruits and well unless you're eating a ridiculous amount of this stuff it's going to be hard to gain weight. I usually measure (green) veg by the cup, sometimes 1 or 2.

EDIT: I forgot to address fats. To be truthful I don't know too much about this. I know you can get it from Nuts, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Avocado being one of the few solid food sources, but all I can say is roughly around 20%-30% of your diet should be made up of "Healthy" fats.

4. Patience.
Remember guys, results take time, if you're over weight, chances are you didn't get there in a matter of weeks, so it's unreasonable to expect to loose in that fast too. Well actually it can happen for some, but just be disappointed if it's not you yet. It takes time.
If you've changed your nutrition, give it 100 days, if you've got a new gym routine, give it 5/6 months before you see any sort of results.

And one more piece of advice that I didn't add into the bullet points, and that is just have fun. I have a cheat meal every now and then. I don't take things too seriously. I still eat take aways now and again and stuff like that. But also I know when to put my foot to the pedal too.
I guess everything in moderation is key. And that goes for anything.
If you join a gym, go there to learn lifting techniques. You know there's always that guy on the elliptical for an entire hour in my gym. Ofcourse that's his choice. Who am I to question? But one thing I'm sure of is, he's not having the most efficient workout he could.
There's also those people who hold onto the back of the monitor on the treadmill when they use a steep incline. I shouldn't need to explain why this is a bad idea. But I will.
The machine which tells you how many calories you've burnt doesn't know you're doing it. So you can probably subtract about a third of the total calories burnt when holding on. (TRAIN SMARTER NOT HARDER)

Anyway I better end this potentially "TL;DR" thread here. If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask, or better yet if you have any advice to share please feel free to add your own.

I managed to drop 8kg last year through improvements in diet and training (xmas and stress from the house move has meant I have put some back on though unfortunately) my goal is to get to 75 kg by the summer (currently 84 kg) which I think is achievable.

Some great advice there._________________It's not the big that eat the small, but the fast that eat the slow...

Joined: 15 Apr 2007Posts: 29292Location: Under Whitestone-Cliffe on the Lake.

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 11:04 am Post subject:

Brilliant, informative post, and very, very well done. The picture of you, certainly paints a thousand words.

Quote:

3. You can't out train a bad diet.

Oh so true.

Certainly applies to me at the moment. Training like Billy Ho, but not making much headway in the weight stakes due to so much being eaten over the Xmas period, and at the moment so much being left to eat, hopefully by the end of this week that should be rectified and I should see a change shortly in body composition.

Keep it up. _________________Your poison letter, your telegram, just goes to show you don't give a damn!!!

Anything is possible if you put your mind to it. haha, well maybe not beating Nino schurter on a raleigh grifter at the olympic games, but you get the idea. haha_________________Trek Scratch Air 9
Giant Talon 3

That's some good work, although your journey is waaaay shorter than mine...
I could post a "now" pic (which would be about 40lbs less than the "starter" pic) but I don't want to put you all off your breakfast. _________________'96 Zaskar LE
'98 Club Roost VCV
'11 Camber FSR Comp
'16 Nukeproof Mega 275 Race

It does take effort, but when you start seeing big changes it makes things very satisfying.
Your post is actually very good as regards information and advice on nutrition. Many people think they can do sh1tloads of exercise and get amazing results, at the same time eating like crap lol errr nope.
It is definitely 20% exercise, 70% nutrition, and 10% genetics .... or close to that.
The good thing is, if you do things the right way, ie by training regularly without injuries, and changing your lifestyle eating habits, there is no reason you cannot maintain most of your muscle & fitness levels well after the age of 50.
In my mid 30's, I was a skinny, pot-bellied, very un-athletic ex-DJ/raver ... but now I am 47 and have never been as fit or strong. I have only ever been to a gym a couple of times too, as I don't like the local gym's round here, too much either natty-boy or steroid monsters and thus I prefer to train at home, so folks, you honestly don't need to pay £20+ a month to a gym, just get a few bits together like dumbbells and a bench, and get out on your bike regularly.

Bodyfat around 13% - 15% at all times here, not too shabby for a bloke almost 50 years old !

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